Renting before you land.

Brazilian landlords don't ask for your credit score. They ask for something harder: a guarantee. Every long-term lease (contrato de locação) needs one of four, and which one you can offer decides which apartments you can even look at.

The four guarantees

1. Fiador, a co-signer who owns property in the same city. The traditional route, and effectively closed to newcomers: you don't know anyone yet, let alone a property owner willing to guarantee your rent.
2. Caução, a security deposit, capped by law at three months' rent, returned with correction at the end. The simplest for foreigners: money talks and needs no local history.
3. Seguro-fiança, rental insurance, roughly one extra month's rent per year, paid by you. Insurers want Brazilian income history, so it usually only works from your second year.
4. Título de capitalização, a deposit parked with a bank. Rarer; some landlords like it, most newcomers never need it.

Signing from abroad

A lease can be signed remotely, Brazilian law accepts digital signature (via gov.br-linked platforms) and signature by proxy. What you cannot safely do remotely is verify. The photos are always generous. Someone must walk the apartment, test the water pressure, meet the doorman, and check the neighborhood at 10pm. On BFY routes, that someone is us, the housing artifact in your file includes the walk-through.

What the rent doesn't include

Advertised rent is rarely the real monthly cost. Add condomínio (building fees, elevator, doorman, maintenance; often 30 to 50% on top of rent) and IPTU (property tax, commonly passed to the tenant). A R$2,500 apartment can cost R$3,800 all-in. Ask for the three numbers separately, always.

Neighborhood before apartment

Pick the commute, then the neighborhood, then the apartment, in that order. A beautiful place 90 minutes from work undoes itself in a month. When we reserve housing on a route, the artifact in your portal lists rent, condomínio, IPTU, and door-to-door commute, because those four numbers are the honest description of a home.